After failing to meet its 2023 deadline, the Cemetery Road Expansion Project is now scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2024.
The $475 million project is set to expand Cemetery Road, allowing for four lanes, concrete drains, pedestrian walkways, and refurbished culverts. However, even after being months behind its initial deadline, the Project was only 35% complete at the start of 2024.
This was revealed when the Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, was mandated by President Dr. Irfaan Ali to meet with the contractors and engineers at the site.
Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, stated that this Project’s delay is due to the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company’s failure to splice its fibre cable in the area.
According to the Minister, this has delayed the civil works on the bridge to be built at the head of Princes Street.
At the Ministry’s end-of-year press conference, Minister Edghill stated that the contract could be terminated if the contractor failed to meet the January deadline.
Avinash Contracting is responsible for the upgrades being done, and they were initially expected to complete all upgrades by July 2023.
“The project is significantly behind time, which is of concern to us. The contractor has received a revised deadline of January 2024 to complete this road… If January end comes and this project is not completed, the contractor will be removed from the project and we will get a proper contractor, a dedicated contractor, to complete, or the Special Projects Unit,” the Minister stated.